


there are much worse games to play

by superlyns



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Hockey, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5369714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superlyns/pseuds/superlyns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In typical rom-com fashion, Taekwoon's entire life changes the moment Cha Hakyeon walks in the locker room that one morning in March.</p>
            </blockquote>





	there are much worse games to play

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quackyeon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quackyeon/gifts).



> i hope you enjoy this! happy holidays ♥  
> many thanks to J. for the beta :3

In typical rom-com fashion, Taekwoon's _entire life_ changes the moment Cha Hakyeon walks in the locker room that one morning in March. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration because it's not like Taekwoon, or anyone else on the team for that matter, had no idea about Hakyeon's arrival. It's just that — hearing about him transferring into the school and seeing him walk into the locker room, gear bag in clashing colors slung on his shoulder, are two completely different things.

The thing is, though, Taekwoon has all the reasons in the world to be shaken about this: transfers rarely happen in the South Korean college hockey scene and even when they do, they certainly do not happen when the player's about to start their junior year. It's just weird. 

The reasons behind Hakyeon's transfer are all sorts of shady, something about him feeling like he didn't get enough ice time with his former team, bad chemistry when he _did_ get shifts and a bunch of other reasons. The logistics of it are shady, too. Getting a junior, someone who's only going to play for your team for two years and then graduate, instead of a brand new freshman you can mold into anything you want to fit your team's style of play and expectations — that's anything but ideal.

So Taekwoon grits his teeth when Hakyeon sits on what's now his bench in the locker room and proceeds through the motions of getting his gear on. Most of it is still in Korea University colors since his Yonsei gear hasn't arrived yet. The crimson hurts Taekwoon's eyes. He looks away and focuses his mind on the team pep talk he has to give in just a few minutes.

 

*

 

Taekwoon gives his pep talk and aces it as usual, which wouldn't be what most people would expect of him given his quiet and soft-spoken tendencies. He always finds the right words and tone, making up for not being outspoken or loud enough. Coach gives his speech as well, sparing a few minutes to introduce Cha Hakyeon and rattle off the key points of his hockey career. Taekwoon would be lying if he said he didn't already know about all of those.

 

Taekwoon's stone-faced until Hakyeon actually shows off some of his acclaimed skills and when he does, _when he does_ , Taekwoon's brain freezes. _Shit_ , he thinks, Hakyeon is even better than what he'd imagined. Like. Taekwoon almost wants to say that Hakyeon could be considered competition before he catches himself and remembers that hockey's a team sport and all that. But _still_ , he's good, almost too good and that — that doesn't sit well with Taekwoon, in some way.

It's not just that Hakyeon's transferred from Korea University, their archenemy, even though that's of course a pretty big part of it. Hakyeon just looks like he could be posing a potential threat to Taekwoon in literally every aspect possible. He looks… bubbly. Charming, radiating, warm, cheerful. All these characteristics that aren't usually associated with Taekwoon. It's not like that's been a problem for him in the past, he's been a great player and a great captain, in spite of maybe not being the most peppy guy in the room. He knows it and he's proud of his, _their_ , achievements. Finally seeing Hakyeon in person though, Taekwoon almost feels threatened, like his entire universe is going to come crumbling down.

 

*

 

The first time coach puts them on the same line together, it's a disaster. Taekwoon almost wants to sit down on the ice and cry out: "I told you so!" This is his worst nightmare coming to life, he can already see the headlines: Yonsei University Hockey Coach Makes Terrible Mistake by Accepting Transfer Student Cha Hakyeon Into His Team - Falls 5 Places in National Rankings. It's all happening, it's unfolding right under his nose and Taekwoon has no say in it and _goddamnit_ , hockey's the one thing he's good at, hockey's his goddamn life and air, and he won't let some new hotshot player take that away from him.

The thing is, if things worked in a logical way — if _sports_ worked in a logical, predictable way — putting Hakyeon and Taekwoon on the same line would be the best idea in the world. Two strong forwards, Hakyeon an acclaimed center, Taekwoon not doing too bad for himself as a left wing, the two of them having repeatedly made the list for 10 Best Defensive Forwards in The League; it sounded like a match in heaven, on paper. No wonder coach and everyone else involved with the transfer at Yonsei was so happy to welcome Hakyeon into their team.

But everything that could have possibly gone wrong during practice had gone wrong. A lack of chemistry, Taekwoon figures, slamming the door to the bench behind him as he goes to sit down, angrily taking off his gloves.

"Pass me the Gatorade," he says to no one in particular.

Wonshik hands him a bottle wordlessly, and Taekwoon takes a large gulp from it.

"Hey." Taekwoon looks up, finds Hakyeon in front of him, leaning on the boards with a concerned look on his face. "Is everything alright? D'you wanna talk about it?"

And. Wait. What.

What is there to talk about? Taekwoon wonders, so that's exactly what he says. "What should we talk about?"

"How disastrous practice was?" Hakyeon quips, and Taekwoon can detect the hint of sarcasm in his voice. Taekwoon puts his captain cap back on, figures that maybe they ought to talk this out like _adults_. Sports adults, college athletes, whatever. 

"Alright," Taekwoon enunciates slowly, "we'll chat."

 

*

 

"I think we need to work on our on-ice chemistry more," Hakyeon says as they walk out of the rink together. Taekwoon doesn't really know where they're heading, figures he's going to let Hakyeon take the lead for this one. It's nice to shake off responsibilities after practice.

"That'd be an understatement," Taekwoon replies. "Everyone's convinced that our styles of play are compatible and together we should be the best thing since sliced bread but... we're far from that."

"Which direction are you headed towards?" Hakyeon asks.

"Library, need to finish that one essay for tomorrow."

"Are you free on Wednesday? We could go over the tape from today's practice and then get on the ice together and try to make things work?" Hakyeon offers cautiously.

Taekwoon can't help the way his eyebrows shoot upwards. "Okay," he responds in the same cautious tone as Hakyeon, "we could do that, yeah." This wasn't necessarily what he meant when he said that he'd be happy to let Hakyeon lead him. This essentially feels like Hakyeon taking on captain responsibilities and leaving him with no choice but to agree because, well, this was a very nice and wise idea. Taekwoon is getting that feeling of being threatened once again, even if he knows he's not being rational enough, that Hakyeon's probably just trying to help and make this work, for the greater good of the team. 

It still feels a lot like Hakyeon's just walked in from the rival school and stepped on his toes with a big, warm smile plastered on his face and Taekwoon doesn't know what to think.

Hakyeon leaves with a little wave and an equally cheerful goodbye, leaving Taekwoon standing here, perplexed.

 

*

 

"So," Wonshik says around a mouthful of kimbap, "what do you think of Hakyeon? He's a great player, eh?"

"Excuse me," Taekwoon says _after_ he's swallowed his own mouthful of kimbap because he's got manners, "were you not here at practice yesterday?"

"I was," Wonshik counters, "why?"

"We were terrible!" Taekwoon says, exasperated that, apparently, in addition to lacking basic manners, Wonshik is completely blind. How he still manages to be a kick-ass defenseman is beyond him, really.

"You weren't terrible."

Taekwoon stares at him. Wonshik only falters a little. "Okay, you weren't amazing, but it wasn't that bad. It was the first time you were on the ice together, what did you expect? Chemistry isn't built in one day or, y'know, something like that."

Taekwoon lets Wonshik's terrible use of idioms slip aside, focusing on the real matter at hand instead. "It's frustrating. Everyone's expecting us to be great players together and to bring all these wins and successes to the team, and so far, I can't see it happening." He goes quiet and grabs the last piece of his kimbap and eats it.

"I'm sure you'll do great," Wonshik starts softly, "you're not our captain for nothing. It's always like this when new players come in, and sure, it might be more frustrating this time because Hakyeon's transferring from our archenemy and all that stuff but still— he'll get the hang of it, and he'll fit into our style of play in no time. And you'll be the best line college hockey has ever seen." He pauses, thoughtful. "Well at least on this side of the Pacific, we can't compete with some of these dudes in America."

Taekwoon hums, picking at his kimchi.

"You know what we should do for the sake of team-building?" Taekwoon doesn't like where this is going. "Go out and get absolutely shitfaced and—"

"No, absolutely not," Taekwoon says sternly. "The team is not getting drunk when our season opener is next weekend and we have three back-to-back games the week after. The beginning of the season is the most important. I'm not allowing this." He clears his throat before he says the next bit, " _As captain_ , I'm not allowing this."

"You're no fun," Wonshik pouts, "it's not like you can tell us not to go out, really."

"Oh, please, go ahead. I'm sure I'll be able to tell when you come in to practice hungover with the worst hand-eye coordination anyone's ever seen."

"You've maybe got a point," Wonshik admits, sighing. "But like, once all of this is over? We should totally go. For _team building_ , hyung, think about it. Also, it's not like Hakyeon's hard on the eyes, you know, I'm sure it'd be fun to hang out with him."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I guess I was too focused on _actual_ team problems to notice."

Taekwoon's lying a little. Just a little, really. It's not like white lies ever killed anyone, and he'd rather tell one than suffer Wonshik's unbearable persistence when it came to matchmaking.

 

*

 

Taekwoon thinks about it for a while and then forgets because a series of terrible things happens:

1) His tape reviewing slash chemistry session with Hakyeon goes... fine. Just fine. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a little disappointing, but then again, Taekwoon wasn't expecting them to suddenly be amazing. He's accepted the fact that this will take time.

2) They lose their season opener against Seoul National, a crushing 5-1. Taekwoon's a firm believer in omens and he doesn't like the message this loss is bearing.

3) They lose one, win one and lose one on their back-to-back the next weekend and the worst thing is that their win is for an exposition game against Busan National that won't even count in the national rankings. Taekwoon's positively fuming as they're riding the bus back to campus, fresh out of a 2-1 loss against Sungkyunkwan. 

Wonshik's sitting in the row in front of his, so Taekwoon taps his shoulder.

"So, your drinking plan, is it still on?" he asks, going for casual but already knowing that Wonshik will never let him live this down.

"I knew I'd make you come around and see the light, captain," Wonshik replies with a grin.

"I'm only delivering on my promises," Taekwoon retorts but Wonshik is already typing on his cellphone and hollering at Hongbin, sitting two rows further back.

"Hongbinnie, got any hot friends who can get us into clubs for free tonight?"

Hongbin makes a finger gun motion back at Wonshik, apparently a sign of agreement as he also grabs his cellphone and sets out to make plans, probably. Taekwoon never really understood how these two communicated, sometimes.

Only ten minutes later, Wonshik ejects himself from his seat in a flash, walking towards the front of the bus and standing there, barely gripping one of the nearby headrests to steady himself. The driver's already driving way above the speed limit and Taekwoon's not ready to lose a player from a dumb bus injury so early in the season. He doesn't get a chance to remind Wonshik about basic safety measures, though, because Wonshik speaks up first. Or, rather, yells.

"EVERYONE," he pauses, clearly for dramatic effect, "we all know losing sucks. But you know what doesn't suck? Going clubbing tonight! Our dearest Hongbin best D-man in the league, after myself, of course, can get us all into Octagon tonight thanks to some nifty connections. And by that he means VIP." He lets the cheers and screams of almost two dozen college hockey athletes waft over him for a moment. "This is a captain Jung Taekwoon-approved outing, so you should all come, if—"

Taekwoon stands up suddenly. He needs to step in, he doesn't want to be actually held responsible for any of this.

"I'm not really in charge of this, so I can't be held responsible if you decide to text any of your exes when you're blackout drunk tonight... But yeah, you should come, I guess," he finishes, lamely.

"Teambonding!" Hongbin screams, and the bus erupts in another chorus of cheers.

Taekwoon will probably never admit it out loud but—

He really loves his team. Sometimes. Most of the times. On good days.

 

*

 

"I really, really, _really_ , love you guys," Taekwoon slurs, shot glass still clasped in his right hand. Jaehwan's hovering at his side, trying to feed him a lime quarter. Right, this is how tequila shots are supposed to be taken. Taekwoon's waived proper shot etiquette about an hour ago, now. "Even you, Jaehwan, I know you're not on the team, but," he hiccups, tries to regain some sort of composure, "I still love you."

"Is someone filming this?" Hongbin enquires, looking at everyone who's in the vicinity of the table they've commandeered in the VIP area of Octagon. "Someone needs to film this. This is perfect blackmail material, I don't think Taekwoon-hyung's ever been this in touch with his feelings."

 

*

 

Taekwoon feels someone sit down next to him, almost feels affronted that someone would dare to upset his precarious balance — he's sitting down but the room still feels like it's spinning a little, and he's holding an uncapped bottle of Sprite in his left hand, for some reason. It's not like anyone's been in need of mixers ever since Jaehwan walked in, announced it was shots time, and everyone obliged. Taekwoon's very glad Jaehwan's here though, tries to make a mental note of thanking whoever thought to invite him.

Taekwoon manages to turn his body without sloshing any soda out of the bottle, smashing the shot glass to the floor, _or_ crushing the body of the person next to them by moving too fast.

"Ah!" Taekwoon says, triumphant. "It's you! My archenemy. My nemesis. My—"

"You're very drunk," Hakyeon stares at him, plucking the bottle and shot glass from his hands and setting them down on the table in front of them.

"Yes." Taekwoon agrees, simply, because that's the truth and he doesn't really have the brainpower to launch himself into an argument with Hakyeon in the middle of a club. He doesn't even really want to argue with Hakyeon, anyway. Hakyeon's looking very... amicable tonight. Well, maybe that's not the correct way to put it: Hakyeon always looks charming, friendly and attra— maybe _not_ that, or maybe yes, Taekwoon's not to sure. The point is, Taekwoon seems to be more receptive to Hakyeon's charms tonight.

"You look nice, very pretty," he says, and there goes his brain-to-mouth filter. His eyes zero in on Hakyeon's lips, and before he gets to say anything more, Hakyeon speaks.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you home."

"Sounds good to me," Taekwoon replies, a dopey grin on his face. Taekwoon didn't remember picking up being so easy, maybe the whole archenemy thing makes it easier, who knows.

 

*

 

The good thing is, Taekwoon presumes, because he certainly hasn't sobered up in the fifteen minutes it took him and Hakyeon to get out of the club, is that it's apparently already past 5 AM, if the sunrise is anything to go by. Taekwoon kept getting distracted by things while they were making their way outside, and then there had been a round of whistling and whooping as Hakyeon tried to manhandle him towards the exit, and then Hakyeon had to turn back and tell everyone that it wasn't what it looked like and then spend an embarrassing couple of minutes looking into all the folds of Taekwoon's clothing, trying to find his cloakroom ticket.

Taekwoon's got his letterman jacket awkwardly draped on his shoulders and Hakyeon keeps staring at him like he's afraid that Taekwoon might puke on him any _second_ but, hey, the subway's probably running again and they don't need to fork over the money for a cab ride across the entire city. Hakyeon gently pushes him towards the subway station, manages to find his transit card, inexplicably tucked into his left shoe, and—

Taekwoon kind of blacks out, after that.

 

*

 

The first things Taekwoon sees when he opens his eyes, thirteen hours later, are:

\- a take-out container of what appears to be the nation's trusted hangover soup, if the smell is anything to go by,  
\- a 2-liter bottle of water,  
\- a box of painkillers,  
\- a note that says, once Taekwoon's managed to gather enough willpower to reach for it, _hope you don't feel too bad - wonshik kept insisting last night that you're never really hungover, but this is just in case. please text me when you wake up so that i know you're alive. - #30._

There is, strangely, a sticker of a bear making a sad face stuck next to where Hakyeon signed. Taekwoon doesn't own any stickers, so that means that Hakyeon either a) carries stickers on him at all times, just to be prepared for any situations that might require them, or b) bought stickers along with the soup, water and painkillers. Taekwoon doesn't really want to investigate that any further but it's— peculiar, to say the least.

He sits up and sets about wolfing down the soup.

 

*

 

_alive. where did you buy the soup?_

_just around the corner, glad you're okay. ^__^_

 

*

 

Things kind of spiral down after that because Taekwoon _might_ not remember a thing from the subway ride back home that early morning, but he does remember embarrassing himself in front of Hakyeon. Hakyeon doesn't bring it up though, and that's for the best, because it means that Taekwoon can sort of carry on with his life and pretend this never happened.

There's practice to think about, and he and Hakyeon haven't really made any progress on their on-ice chemistry. Coach makes them sit through a grueling four-hours long video session that week, reviewing the tapes from the past weekend's losses.

It's humiliating, watching himself trying to make passes at Hakyeon and seeing them not connecting, not happening the way he wants them too. It's frustrating, too, because he knows that Hakyeon's trying his hardest, that he's a great player and that whatever's not working between them right now will work out, it will, it's just going to take some time.

Taekwoon wishes the hockey gods would hurry up a little bit, because their game against Korea University is only three weeks away, and the last thing he wants is losing against them. He wants to win, hard, and he wants to show that Hakyeon's playing great hockey even if he's not on their team anymore.

 

*

 

Taekwoon's turn to be on coffee run duty arrives at the worst possible time. He's been on edge about literally anything, from the obvious upcoming Korea University match-up to the fact that the song his rice cooker plays once it's done cooking doesn't sound so pleasant to his ears anymore. Everything's frustrating and annoying.

He walks into class fifteen minutes late with a coffee tray in one hand — three grande skinny lattes and one venti caramel frappuccino — and his laptop case in the other. His hair's a mess and there's a frantic look on his face, one that says things such as: _I waited ten minutes in line at Starbucks to get you assholes coffee and you didn't even save me a seat._

"Fuck you," Taekwoon mouths at the three guys sitting in the second row of the classroom, dropping the coffee tray unceremoniously in front of Jaehwan. He grabs one of the skinny lattes hastily, and moves towards the only open seat left. Back row, obviously. Taekwoon's supposed to be getting better grades in stats but there's no way this is happening when his own friends — hell, his own _teammates_ — refuse to contribute to his academic success.

Taekwoon storms out of the lecture hall once class is over, doesn't turn back when he hears Jaehwan and Hongbin call after him.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hyung, wait—" Taekwoon stops right in his tracks, Jaehwan crashing into his backpack. He's still holding his frappuccino cup, and Taekwoon narrows his eyes at him after he turns back.

"I hope this didn't spill on me."

"It didn't!" Jaehwan dismisses cheerfully. "Thanks for the coffee run, hyung, appreciate—"

"If you appreciate coffee this much, you should do your own coffee runs from now on," Taekwoon cuts in, "I'm not getting late to class again, I can't afford to sacrifice my GPA for this." 

Taekwoon leaves right after that, leaving a rather shell-shocked Jaehwan in the middle of the hallway. Hongbin wraps an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry, hyung, you're not on the team so he can't force you to do suicide drills during practice tonight."

"He could bodily harm me though, it's not like he needs my body like he needs yours," Jaehwan says, voice strained.

"Nah, it's all appearances, Taekwoon hyung would never hurt anyone," Hongbin reassures him with a wide smile. He squeezes his shoulder and asks, "You wanna grab lunch later? I don't have study hall until 2 and my class gets out at 1:15 so."

"Sure thing," Jaehwan replies, "you should invite Hakyeon hyung too, I'm sure he'd love to join."

"Oh, that's a great idea, I'll text him." Hongbin waves at Jaehwan before they part ways.

 

*

 

In some terrible twist of fate, Taekwoon walks in the cafeteria and finds Jaehwan, Hongbin, Wonshik and— _Hakyeon_ merrily seating at a table enjoying their lunch. Taekwoon chooses to ignore the fact that they're all cheating on their respective diet plans, decides to focus on the real matter at hand: Cha Hakyeon. Taekwoon can't even try to pretend not to see them and go sit somewhere else, one of them would probably see him.

He steels himself for what's to come, grabs a tray and fills it with items that are all included in his diet plan, thank you very much, and walks in the direction of the disaster table. Hakyeon's the first one to see him approaching, of course.

"Oh, Taekwoon!" Hakyeon's face lights up and Taekwoon begrudgingly sits down next to him.

"Hello captain," Sanghyuk says cheekily, "fancy seeing you at lunch on a Thursday. I thought you had a 1PM class?"

"Got canceled."

"You should have told us, we would have waited for you." Hakyeon eyes his tray mournfully, seemingly very sorry about this entire situation.

"It doesn't matter." Taekwoon makes a vague hand motion in his direction.

"Oh, by the way, I got the speed skating team to move their practice slot, so that means we have the rink for however many hours we want tonight."

They've got another one-on-one practice session tonight, their last before the game, in three days time now. They've been doing a little better, figuring out passes that work better and managing to carry out some nice offensive strategies, sometimes. Taekwoon's still worried sick about the game though, knows how greatly practice is different from games. He doesn't even want to start thinking about how Hakyeon might be affected by facing his former team, doesn't even want to try and broach the subject. He's got enough to worry about.

"Uh, thanks," Taekwoon replies, probably forty seconds too late. "You didn't have to do this, though, as the captain I should have taken care of it."

"It wasn't an issue," Hakyeon insists.

And Taekwoon just leaves it at that, too tired to fight or talk back.

 

*

 

Taekwoon's life takes another rom-com spin during their game against Korea University. Of all times, really.

They're leading 2-1 and there's two minutes left in the second period. The rink's all decked out in royal blue and crimson, supporters erupting in songs and cheers and gasps. The tension's palpable and, god, Taekwoon loves _this_ , loves this so much he never wants to stop playing.

He's been playing well with Hakyeon and that's a relief, to not have Hakyeon play horribly in front of his former team. Taekwoon doesn't really know why he cares about that side of things, about what Hakyeon's _feeling_ instead of just focusing on the game and its outcome. He figures this might just be his captainly instincts. That, or he's getting soft and falling for Hakyeon's bubbly charms, or whatever.

So there's two minutes left in the second period and Hakyeon shoots the puck at the net at an awkward angle, which isn't weird or concerning in itself, really, he's just trying to score. What's concerning though is the way he loses his balances after his shot, falling on his side and— onto his wrist. His _left_ wrist. As in, the one he shoots with.

Shit.

 

*

 

Taekwoon's at Hakyeon's side as soon as the referee blows his whistle to pause the game. Hakyeon is still on the ice, holding up his wrist with a pained expression on his face.

"Shit," Taekwoon says it out loud this time, for emphasis. "You need to get that looked at, Hakyeon," he says, keeping his composure. This is fine. Everything is fine. Hakyeon's going to get his wrist looked at by the team trainer, who will have him ice it until the third period's due to start and then he'll be back on the ice, ready to win this game with them.

"Yeah." Hakyeon winces as he moves his arm a little too quick, trying to get back on his skates. Taekwoon helps him up, keeps his arm looped around Hakyeon's shoulders as they skate towards the bench together. "It doesn't look good to me. Feels like it's broken."

"Don't say that," Taekwoon pleads.

 

Hakyeon doesn't come back to play the third. The trainer's fairly certain that his wrist's broken so Hakyeon's ushered to the hospital to get x-rays and further treatment. 

Taekwoon is stuck in some sort of daze for the entirety of the third period. They end up winning, but only by the skin of their teeth — a 4-3 that they have to earn by going into overtime. Taekwoon's buzzing at the end of the game, and it's not just from the thrill of the game. He goes through the motions of the handshake line, post-game locker room speech and shower as quickly as he can manage.

 

*

 

"Before you ask," Hakyeon says as soon as Taekwoon gets here, " _yes_ , I'm out until the end of the season."

"That's not what I came here for," Taekwoon rebuts, quietly.

"What are you here for, then?"

"To see you, I guess." Taekwoon's not too sure of what he's saying — he's only just realized what's happening right now. The realization makes him feel light-headed for a moment, and he stares blankly at the white wall behind Hakyeon's face.

"Are you still with me?" Hakyeon asks and Taekwoon isn't too sure how long has passed. It could have been just seconds, or maybe a couple of minutes. He feels like he's still stuck in that daze that followed after Hakyeon was taken to the hospital and he had to appear cool and composed in front of his team and take them to victory against Korea University, no matter what had just happened. He's glad he's managed to do it. It still all seems like a weird out-of-body experience, like he wasn't really the one skating past Korea University defenseman Yook Sungjae and then shooting the puck right between the goalie's legs, scoring the overtime game-winner.

Tonight has just been a lot — from losing a key player in the key game of the season to sudden realizations in hospital emergency rooms.

"What are you doing after this?" Taekwoon mumbles indistinctly.

"What?" Hakyeon's taken aback, and not without reason, Taekwoon registers, abruptly snapping out of his daze.

" _What_?" he echoes.

"You asked me what I was doing after this," Hakyeon replies and the amused smile starting to spread on his face isn't lost on Taekwoon.

"Did I?" 

This conversation isn't going anywhere and Taekwoon's starting to think that there's something about being in Hakyeon’s presence that inevitably makes him say stupid stuff. It’s a tangible theory, really.

"You did," Hakyeon says slowly, as if that could maybe make Taekwoon understand him better. He's sounding amused now, too, in addition to the smile still stuck on his face.

"Alright, then," Taekwoon surrenders, "do you wanna get dinner after this?”

"Sure thing," Hakyeon agrees easily, "the nurse said she'd be back in a couple of minutes with my prescription, we can go after that."

 

*

 

And that's how easy it is to go on a post-game-slash-post-emergency-room-visit date with Hakyeon and kiss him by the end of it.

Really.

 

*

 

Hongbin groans when coach announces an extra hour of practice because their power play has just been really shitty lately and they can't go into their game against KAIST next weekend without fixing it up.

"D'you have a hot date to meet, Hongbin?" Wonshik snickers, zipping past him on the ice.

"You wish you had a date," Hongbin throws him his best attempt at a mysterious grin.

"Who is it you've been seeing lately? Jiyeon?" 

"Maybe," Hongbin replies, shooting loose pucks at Wonshik while they wait for further instructions from coach.

"I'm pretty sure I saw you with your tongue down her throat in front of Vera last weekend but it's cute of you to try and deny it."

"What I meant was," Hongbin shoots a puck between Wonshik's legs, just because he can, "maybe I'm not seeing _only_ Jiyeon."

"What?" Wonshik shouts, confused, trying his best to block the pucks Hongbin shoots in his direction.

"Either way," Hongbin adds casually, like he didn't just drop a bombshell on Wonshik in the middle of practice, "it's none of your business. You don't see me asking you who you're seeing and that's—"

"Because I'm not getting any on the regular," Wonshik groans, "no need to twist the knife."

"I wasn't necessarily gonna go there," Hongbin says, apologetic.

Back in first year, no one had expected Hongbin to become the serial dater extraordinaire he's become today — he was awkward and painfully so, a bundle of nervous energy and forced grins that didn't bode well when it came to flirting. Surprisingly, all that had played in his favor and no one on the team could recall a time where Hongbin hadn't been seeing someone, in some way or another.

"C'mon," Hongbin says, almost a peace offering and testimony that the conversation's over, "let's get back to the boards and see what coach has got in store for us tonight."

"Thanks for joining us," Taekwoon says lukewarmly when they do, "you two seemed to be having a fascinating conversation."

"Just because you're not inclined to share _anything_ about your relationship with Hakyeon doesn't give you right to rain other people's parade," Hongbin retaliates. 

"I don't see why I'd have to talk about my _private_ relationship with my boyfriend to other people, really," Taekwoon counters, just as Sanghyuk starts shouting. 

"You owe me 50,000 won." Sanghyuk taps Wonshik's skate with his stick. Wonshik grumbles.

"What's going on here?" Taekwoon frowns. 

"There may or may not have been a betting pool going to see how long it'd take you to finally call Hakyeon your boyfriend in public," Sanghyuk explains. 

Taekwoon stands firmly by his belief that as much as the kid's the fastest skater he's ever seen, he's also the most evil one. First years used to know boundaries and respect for their elders. Taekwoon used to be terrified of his captain when he walked in his first practice back in first year. Being under Kim Heechul's captaincy had been even scarier than moving to the States on his own fresh out of middle school to attend a hockey prep school for a year in the hopes of making it to the North American junior leagues. That hadn't worked out, and Taekwoon was well over his initial disappointment by now. Yonsei was home, royal blue running deep in his veins.

"That's six weeks, and I win because Wonshik thought it would take you eight," Sanghyuk carries on explaining, nonplussed.

 

*

 

So it's been six weeks, then. Hakyeon's just a couple of weeks away from getting his cast removed and starting physiotherapy to ease his wrist back into its former range of movements. 

The doctor had assured him that he didn't have to worry too much, he'd still be able to hockey as before once he'd be done with his physio sessions. The timing worked out quite well, in the end — yes, he'd had to sit out the end of the season, but at least he'd have time to recover over the summer and he'd be ready to start practicing again with the team in September. Sure, the Korean college hockey season only ran from March to June, but they still had some games in the autumn semester, usually more relaxed since they didn't count towards the league standings. That'd give Hakyeon the opportunity to ease back into the game before the real season starts up again.

It's been six weeks and the season's almost over and Taekwoon knows that they don't have any shot at the post-season championship this year. It's not just a consequence of losing Hakyeon, it's also that their power play's been shitty all season long and that they've never managed to get a good third line. Coach kept tweaking it all season, trying different players combination, but to no avail, and a hockey team can't really function if all lines aren't 200% strong. Taekwoon's still hoping to get to championship next year and win that title. That'd be a great achievement to finish off his captaincy and last year at Yonsei. He still remembers the euphoria and excitement he'd felt when the team had made it to the final back in his first year, after a sensational record number of wins over the regular season. Even after they'd lost that final game, Heechul had made what was probably the best locker room speech had ever heard in his entire life, and that, maybe, had been one of the reasons why he'd started working towards the captaincy.

So there's no hopes for a post-season and a championship ring this year, but Taekwoon's not too fussed about it, for once.

"Hey," Hakyeon's staring at his phone, fingers hovering a message he's just received, "Hongbin's asking if we want to go on a double date with him tonight. What do you think?"

Taekwoon winces a little, internally, but doesn't let it show. The feeling passes quickly anyway. He's been getting more soft, lately, since he's started dating Hakyeon. It's not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, Hakyeon balances out Taekwoon's personality in the best ways.

"Sure, why not," he agrees, rearranging Hakyeon's leg over his lap so that he's sitting more comfortably on the couch.

"Wait, he's saying he's not sure if he can call it a double date since he's currently—" Hakyeon cuts himself, frowning at his phone. "He says he's saying two people at the same time, but like, they're in relationship together, the three of them. I don't know, don't ask me," Hakyeon says as he notices the confused look on Taekwoon's face, "it's all confusing to me too. D'you still want to go?"

"Yeah," Taekwoon reiterates, "but we might bail early, I'm exhausted."

"That sounds good to me," Hakyeon replies, wiggling his toes in Taekwoon's lap, "we can always come back home and watch re-runs of Return of Superman until you fall asleep on me while I stroke your hair."

Hakyeon beams at him and Taekwoon doesn't think for a second of retaliating.

Yes, this sounds good to him too.


End file.
